Top 13 Favorite Movie Endings Part 1
Spoiler Warning: This list will contain spoilers Whenever you're writing for a movie, video game, book, playwright, etc., one thing rises above all - endings are hard. It can be really disappointing for an amazing film to be ruined by a bad ending. However, sometimes a great ending can make a great movie even better. Also, it can make a bad or boring movie totally worth the wait. An ending can either make or break a movie so it's always good to spend as much time as possible on them so they turn out to be the best they can be. In this list, I'm going to count down the ten movie endings which I enjoyed the most and feel are the best based on all of the other movies I watched. You will disagree on some but just remember that this is my opinion and it's likely going to be different than yours. Anyways, I hope you enjoy the list and feel free to comment on the ones you enjoyed the most. Citizen Kane (1941) Citizen Kane is often regarded as one of if not the greatest movie ever made and for good reasons. It was very revolutionary when it came out and it contained many memorable scenes. The two most famous scenes in it are its opening and its ending which has been parodied so many times in pop culture. After a wealthy man dies, a detective scrambles as he tries to figure out the meaning of his last word which was "Rosebud". During the movie, we see different flashbacks that detail different events which he experienced in his life. The detective concludes that he is unable to figure out the meaning of "Rosebud" and he gives up as we watch Charles Foster Kane's things being burned. Then it is revealed that "Rosebud" was the name of his sled which represented the only time in life he was happy. But then his sled is burned thus destroying the last vestige of happiness he had in his life. It's a heartbreaking ending which is why it made it to the number 12 spot on my list. The Shawshank Redemption (1994) Like Citizen Kane, The Shawshank Redemption is also cited as one of the greatest movies ever made. It actually contains many memorable scenes. From Brooks Hatlen's suicide montage to Andy Dufresne's escape from prison, this movie has clearly set an enormous iconic status in cinema history. However, the ending is by far the most iconic and the best scene in the film. Andy Dufresne is wrongly accused of murdering his ex-wife and her lover and he is thrown in jail. While in there, he befriends another man named Ellis Boyd "Red" Redding. The 2 men bond over the years and they encounter many hardships. Eventually though, Andy successfully escapes from prison. After a while, Ellis is released from prison as well. After searching for a bit, they finally meet each other and embrace as the camera pans out. It is a really powerful scene because we've experienced a lot in the movie and it is emotional knowing that they've finally met each other on the outside. American History X (1998) A movie doesn't have to have a happy ending in order for it to be good. Sometimes, sad endings can be good too. While I could have chosen "The Green Mile" and "Requiem For a Dream", none of the quite have the same amount of emotional power as "American History X" does. This movie centers around Derek Vinyard, a racist leader of a group of Neo-nazi's, who is released from prison after killing two young black men who were trying to hijack his car. But as the movie continues on, we get a backstory on his character and we witness how he changed his violent ways while he was in prison. When he is released though, he sets out to stop his younger brother, Danny Vinyard, from going down the same wrong path that he did. After it seems like the movie is going to end on a happy note, the movie surprises us when Danny is shot dead from another black boy who he had a confrontation with the previous day. Then Danny's narration reads us the conclusion to the essay he wrote as he says an inspiring quote. This movie contained a ton of character development which makes this ending real tragic. Fight Club (1999) Fight Club was definitely a very "trippy" movie. The movie contains many odd scenes and the brilliant plot twist at the end cements it into movie history. In my opinion, it is one of the greatest films of all time. This movie follows an insomniac office worker as he encounters a soap salesman named Tyler Durden. They decide to open up an underground fighting club which eventually grows dangerously out of control. After a series of bizarre experiences, the narrator discovers that he has multi-personality disorder and Tyler Durden and him are both the same person. He is then inside a building as he prepares to watch explosives destroy several credit card buildings to set everyone's debt back to zero. At the end though, the narrator shoots himself in the face and the bullet causes him to stop mentally projecting himself thus defeating Tyler Durden. He talks to his love interest, Marla Singer, and they then hold hands and look on and watch as all of the buildings collapse around them. This scene is also accompanied by one of the most fitting ending songs ever in cinema. One word. Brilliant. Se7en (1995) Se7en is one of the more horrifying movies out there. It's gore can be hard to watch and it has many dark moments in it. Everyone who has seen this movie though knows about how shocking and nail-biting its finale is though. This movie follows Detective Mills and Detective Somerset as they search for a murderer who kills people in ways based around the seven deadly sins. After five people are murdered, the killer surrenders and allows himself to be arrested. John Doe, the killer, promises to lead them out so they can fins the other 2 bodies. He leads them out to the middle of nowhere and a package is delivered there. When Somerset opens it, he discovers that the head of Detective Mills wife is in it. He attempts to stop Mills but he is unable and Mills shoots John Doe repeatedly, killing him. This is a very gripping scene and it keeps you on the edge of your seat when it starts and when it ends. The reason that this is not higher is because I didn't feel that the few minutes which follows that scene is really necessary. However, the gripping "The Box" scene more than makes up for it which is why it gets the number eight spot on this list. Russian Ark (2002) This is definitely the most ambitious film on this list. I can understand why some would find this boring but this movie enthralled me every step of the way because I love history and art. Because of that, this is one of my favorite movies of all time. This movie is shot in a single, uninterrupted long take. It follows a ghostly narrator who travels through the Russian Hermitage Museum and encounters historical figures from the last 200+ years. Historical figures and events featured include Peter the Great, Catherine the Great, Tsar Nicholas I, Alexander Griboedov, Tsar Nicholas II, Joeseph Stalin, and a desperate Leningrader making his own coffin during the 900-day siege of WW2. A grand ball follows and then everyone exits out of the grand staircase. The narrator then walks backwards out of the hallway only to see an endless, but does not look back or see the building. This can be interpreted as an ark preserves Russian history as it floats in the sea of time. Its ending is quite poignant and the music makes it a pretty great scene. This is a film that you won't be forgetting anytime soon and as long as you don't mind slower-paced films then I recommend that you watch this. Come and See (1985) You may remember that this movie topped my previous movie list (Top 10 Horrifying Movies Ever Made). This definitely did contain some dark content. But the ending is often called the best because it's open to interpretation. After a boy named Florya finds a rifle while digging in a sand field, he uses it to join the Soviet partisan forces and fight in WW2. By the end of the movie though, he has basically been through hell. He experienced many horrifying scenes such as escaping a burning church with many villagers stuck inside it and witnessing many people he encounters brutally killed. At the end, he is rescued by his fellow partisans. After they are about to leave, he notices a picture oh Hitler lying in the dirt. He then starts to shoot at it. Each time he shoots it, it shows a montage of Hitler's life in reverse and it displays many historical events from his life. However, he finds that he cannot bring himself to shoot the picture of Hitler as a baby. He then catches up to his fellow partisans and they march into the woods. People have discussed what it meant when he stopped shooting Hitler's infant picture. Whatever your interpretation to the film's ending is, it raises the question - would you shoot a baby in order to save millions? Read part 2. Category:Movies Category:Top X